Russell Brand Cancels SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST Appearance; Calls Documentary 'Intrusive'

Russell Brand has announced he will not be attending the premiere of the documentary about his life, BRAND: A SECOND COMING.

Directed by Ondi Timoner, the film will kick off the SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST (SXSW) film festival on Friday. A statement on Brand's website suggests that the decisoin to not attend the screening is grounded in the filming being "very uncomfortable" for the actor.

"You'd think a narcissist would like nothing more than talking about themselves and their 'rags to riches," 'hard luck' story but actually, it felt like, to me, my life was hard enough THE FIRST TIME round and going through it again was painful and sad," Brand writes. "Ondi is a very beautiful person and a director of peerless integrity, I suppose what I didn't consider was that in letting go of the film, I was agreeing to be the subject of a biography."

The documentary took seven years to film and was started while Brand was in recovery from drug addiction. After 21 investors and several directors, Brand found he eventually had very little creative control, which was not his original intention.

"Posthumously this is a great honor but while you're alive, oddly intrusive and melancholy."

"I apologize sincerely to the organizers of SXSW for my non-attendance, especially Janet Pierson, Brian Solis and Rynda Laurel from the interactive festival, who were responsible for the keynote talk that I was due to do."

Russell Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, author, and activist.

In 2004, Brand achieved notoriety as the host of Big Brother's Big Mouth, a Big Brother spin-off. In 2007, he had his first major film role in St Trinian's, a film about an anarchic school for uncontrollable girls. In 2008, he had a major role in the romantic comedy-drama Forgetting Sarah Marshall; the film led to him starring in the spin off, the rock comedy Get Him to the Greek in 2010. He also worked as a voice actor in the animated films Despicable Me in 2010, Hop in 2011, and Despicable Me 2 in 2013. He played the title character of the 2011 remake of the romantic comedy Arthur.

Brand has received media coverage for controversies such as his dismissal from MTV, his behaviour as a presenter at various award ceremonies, and his drug use. In 2008, he resigned from the BBC following prank calls he made to actor Andrew Sachs on The Russell Brand Show. He has incorporated his drug use, alcoholism, and promiscuity into his comedic material.

Since guest editing an edition of the New Statesman, a British weekly magazine, Brand has become known as an activist and campaigner. This includes a much publicised interview with Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman in 2013, in which he encouraged the British electorate not to vote and endorsed a system based on the 'massive redistribution of wealth' to replace the status quo.

Source/Photo: Russell Brand

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